Skill companion: Science Around Us Every Day (Year 2) -- everyday-science scaffolds

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Skill companion · Year 2 Human Endeavourseegongsik /au

Science Around Us Every Day: a skill companion

A small set of reusable sheets about how ordinary people use science every day. A nurse, a cook and a gardener each notice a pattern and use it to predict what happens next. Print the sheets once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.

AC9S2H01

describe how people use science in their daily lives, including using patterns to make scientific predictions

What a skill companion is

Human Endeavour is about how people use science in their daily lives. It is not a topic of its own; it grows alongside the science topics a class teaches all year, such as Changing Materials, Making Sounds and Earth and the Sky. So this pack is not a full term of lessons. It is a pattern-spotter log to take home, a jobs-and-patterns match sheet, cut-out is-it-science cards, a pairing map showing where each one fits, a short stand-alone mini-lesson and an answer sheet.

Start here: five minutes

Read the pairing map on the next page: it shows which scaffold fits which science lesson.
Send the pattern-spotter log home so each child finds a pattern someone uses in daily life, then brings it back to share.
Print the jobs-and-patterns match sheet, one per child, when you talk about how people use science.
Cut out the is-it-science cards once. They are reused all year, in any topic.
Open the free interactive unit on your board for a worked example, or run the one-page mini-lesson to teach the skill on its own first.

No science background needed

This pack is written for the busy generalist teacher. Each sheet explains itself in plain words, and the answer sheet gives model answers and look-fors, so you can walk in and use it.

On the board

This pack is the printable half of a free interactive unit. On screen, children press “Add next evidence” and “Start over” in “A nurse spots a pattern in the temperature”, weigh “Set a timer”, “Poke it with a stick” and “Watch the colour” in “Pick a way to know when the cake is cooked”, and sort the clues in “Spot the everyday science”. Each sheet in this pack turns one of those moves into something children do on paper.

seegongsik.com/au/y2/human-endeavour/AC9S2H01

Aligned to the Australian Curriculum V9 (AC9S2H01). This pack is original material from seegongsik, independently produced and not endorsed by ACARA. Curriculum content descriptors are (c) ACARA, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Free to print and use in class.

Where the skill fitsPairing map

Slot the skill into your science lessons

The same skill, seeing how a person uses a pattern to predict, fits into every science unit. This map shows a person who uses science in each Year 2 topic, the pattern they use, and which scaffold to reach for. You do not run these as extra lessons; you fold them into the science you teach.

When you teach	A person who uses it	The pattern they use	Scaffold to slot in
Changing Materials (AC9S2U03)	A cook or baker	Dough and ice change in the same way each time, so they know what to expect	Jobs-and-patterns match
Making Sounds (AC9S2U02)	A musician or piano tuner	The same string gives the same note, so they tune by the pattern	Jobs-and-patterns match
Earth and the Sky (AC9S2U01)	A farmer or sailor	The seasons and the sky repeat, so they predict weather and planting	Pattern-spotter log
Any science topic	Someone at home or at work	Any pattern used to predict	Is-it-science cards first, then the log

On the board

When you want a worked example on the board, open the interactive unit. Use “A nurse spots a pattern in the temperature” for spotting a pattern, “Pick a way to know when the cake is cooked” for choosing a way to predict, and “Spot the everyday science” for telling science from a wish.

seegongsik.com/au/y2/human-endeavour/AC9S2H01

Scaffold 1 · Pattern spotterTake it home

Science detective at home

Patterns are everywhere. Find one that someone uses to guess what happens next, at home or outside, and bring it back to share with the class.

A pattern I noticed at home or outside

Draw it or write it

The person who uses it

What they can guess (predict) because of it

Bring this back to share. Every time a person uses a pattern to guess what happens next, that is everyday science.

Scaffold 2 · Jobs and patternsOne per child

Jobs and the patterns they use

Match each job to the pattern it uses and what it helps that person predict. The first row is done for you. Fill in the blanks, then add your own job in the last row.

Job	The pattern they use	What they can predict
Nurse	Checks the temperature the same way each day	Notices early if it changes
Cook	The soup is ready after the same time
Gardener	Warm days come after the cold
Bus driver	Rainy days make the road slower

Teacher note: there is more than one good answer. Look for a real pattern, something that happens again and again, and a sensible prediction that uses it.

Scaffold 3 · Is-it-science cards (cut out)Reuse all year

Is it everyday science?

Cut out the cards. Sort them into two piles: using science, which means noticing a pattern to predict what happens next, and not science, which is a wish or a lucky guess.

A gardener waits for the warm days to plant beans, the way that has worked every year.

A cook sets a timer because the bread is always ready after the same time.

A nurse checks the temperature the same way each morning to notice any change.

Someone picks red as their lucky colour for the day.

A child wishes for a longer weekend.

A farmer watches the clouds to guess if rain is coming.

You cross your fingers for good luck.

A shopkeeper orders more ice cream on hot days, like every summer.

Write your own example:

Teacher note: the two piles are “uses science” and “does not”. The answer sheet lists which is which, and why. Blank cards let children add their own.

Mini-lesson · Teacher planAbout 30 minutes

Science detectives at home

Use this stand-alone lesson to teach the skill on its own, before you fold it into a science topic. Children meet a nurse, a cook and a gardener who each use a pattern to predict, then use the sheets in this pack. They meet the whole skill in one go and reuse the sheets all year.

We are learning to

spot a pattern that people use in daily life,
say what it helps them predict,
tell everyday science from a wish or a lucky guess.

Success criteria

I can name a pattern someone uses.
I can say what it predicts.

You need

the is-it-science cards (scaffold 3), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers,
the jobs-and-patterns match sheet (scaffold 2) and the pattern-spotter (scaffold 1), one each per child,
the free interactive unit on your board, if you have one (optional).

Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)

5 min	Meet the nurse, cook and gardener Tell how each one uses science: a nurse watches the temperature, a cook reads a timer, a gardener reads the seasons. Each notices a pattern and uses it to guess what happens next. Ask: “What do they see happen again and again?”
10 min	Is it everyday science? Tables sort the cards into two piles: using science, and a wish or a lucky guess. Bring the class together on one tricky card. Ask: “Is this a pattern we could test, or just a wish?”
10 min	Jobs and patterns Each child fills the jobs-and-patterns match sheet, then starts a pattern-spotter log to take home. Move around and help children name the pattern and what it predicts.
5 min	Share A few children read out a pattern someone uses and what it helps them predict. Celebrate a clear pattern more than a right answer. Ask: “What pattern did you spot, and what does it help someone guess?”

Running it shorter? Stop after Is it everyday science, and pick up Jobs and patterns inside your next science lesson.

On the board

For a worked example, open the unit and press “Add next evidence” in “A nurse spots a pattern in the temperature”. Each new reading builds a steady pattern, until one reading breaks it and the nurse can predict that something has changed.

seegongsik.com/au/y2/human-endeavour/AC9S2H01

Watch for these ideas

Thinking science only happens in a laboratory. The nurse, cook and gardener all use science at work.
Calling a wish a prediction. A prediction uses a pattern; a wish does not.
Trusting a pattern that only happened once. A pattern is something that happens again and again.

Make it easier, make it bigger

Easier: sort just four is-it-science cards, two that use science and two that do not.
Bigger: write a brand-new everyday-science example on a blank card and swap it with another table to sort.

Answers and look-fors

The next sheet has the card answers, model answers for the jobs-and-patterns sheet, and a quick three-level guide.

Answers · For the teacherModel answers

Answers and look-fors

Is it everyday science? card answers

Example	Uses science?	Why
A gardener waits for the warm days to plant beans, the way that has worked every year.	Yes	It uses a pattern of the seasons to predict the best time.
A cook sets a timer because the bread is always ready after the same time.	Yes	It uses a time pattern to predict when the bread is done.
A nurse checks the temperature the same way each morning to notice any change.	Yes	It uses a steady pattern to spot a change early.
Someone picks red as their lucky colour for the day.	No	A lucky colour is not a pattern you can test.
A child wishes for a longer weekend.	No	A wish does not use a pattern to predict.
A farmer watches the clouds to guess if rain is coming.	Yes	It uses a weather pattern to predict rain.
You cross your fingers for good luck.	No	Crossing fingers is not a pattern that predicts anything.
A shopkeeper orders more ice cream on hot days, like every summer.	Yes	It uses the pattern that heat brings more buyers.

The blank cards children write are marked the same way: does it use a pattern to predict, or is it a wish or a lucky guess?

Jobs and patterns: model answers

Answers will vary, and that is fine. The point is a real pattern and a prediction that uses it. Here is what a good answer sounds like for each job.

Job	The pattern	What they predict
Nurse	Checks the temperature the same way each day	Notices early if it changes
Cook	The soup is ready after the same time	Takes it off at the right time, not raw or burnt
Gardener	Warm days come after the cold	Predicts the best day to plant the beans
Bus driver	Rainy days make the road slower	Leaves early so as not to be late

A quick three-level guide

Move	Working towards	At standard	Beyond
Spot a pattern in daily life	names something that happened once, with help	names a pattern someone uses, something that happens again and again	finds a pattern of their own and explains how it repeats
Say what it predicts	guesses with no link to the pattern	says what the pattern helps a person predict	explains how the pattern makes the prediction a good guess
Tell science from a wish	sorts some cards with help	sorts everyday science from a wish or a lucky guess	explains why a wish cannot be tested like a pattern

A child at standard can name a pattern someone uses and say what it helps them predict. The skill grows all year, so keep the scaffolds coming back in every science topic.